Here’s the headline from a recently released USDA report…
Seventy percent of U.S. farms and ranches now have access to internet, a 3 percent growth from 2013, according to the Computer Usage and Ownership report, released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
I’ll post the full press release below. First here’s the Minnesota focus:
Minnesota stats
- 78 percent of farms in Minnesota reported having a computer
- 75 percent have Internet access
Type of access in Minnesota
- 2 percent have dialup
- 28 percent have DSL
- 11 percent have cable
- 16 percent have satellite
- 37 percent have wireless
- 6 percent have other or unknown access
It’s always nice to get a report on how things are going and they’ve been doing this survey for a while so nice to see the growth but I think it’s time to ask new questions. There isn’t a quick definition of “Internet access” but when dialup is added to the mix and FTTH gets lumped in with the “unknown access” I don’t even have to ask. Even more telling is the section on what farmers are doing with Internet access. They drill down into what sort of websites the farm might access (USDA reports or conduct business with non-ag website) but there’s nothing about precision agriculture, remote monitoring or tracing produce/livestock.
Again, it’s useful to see the growth – but the utility is limited by the questions they ask. A policymaker reading this report wouldn’t get a glimpse at what’s happening on farms today and my fear is that decisions might be made based on the need and use of technology on the farms circa 1997 – when the Ag Survey started asking about computers. Back then the Internet gave a farmer a competitive advantage – the message I’ve been hearing is that not only is technology a necessity but better broadband is required to keep up with the data demands of precision ag and government reporting. Maybe we need to start asking about those things.
Here’s the full press release on the latest report…
USDA Report Shows Increasing Internet Access on U.S. Farms
WASHINGTON, August 19, 2015 – Seventy percent of U.S. farms and ranches now have access to internet, a 3 percent growth from 2013, according to the Computer Usage and Ownership report, released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
The DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), remained the most popular method for accessing internet, accounting for 30 percent of all farms and ranches with internet access. Despite remaining in the lead, however, the DSL access is down 5 percent, from the 35 percent of farms that used this method in 2013.
In contrast, wireless connection, which accounts for 29 percent, and satellite connection, which accounts for 21 percent of the U.S. total, showed significant growth in the past two years. Share of farms using these two methods went up 5 and 4 percent respectively.
According to the report, 43 percent of U.S. farms use computers for their business operations. Crop growers, at 47 percent, are more likely than livestock producers to use computers for business. In the livestock sector, 39 percent of producers use computers for business.
Farmers’ and ranchers’ business computer uses include:
- 44 percent – Conducting business with a non-agricultural website
- 44 percent – Accessing federal government websites
- 19 percent – Purchasing agricultural inputs
- 16 percent – Marketing activities
Farmers in the Western states are most likely to use computers for business. In that region, 48 percent of all farms use computers for that purpose. Western region was closely followed by the North Central and Northeast states, where 46 and 45 percent of all farms followed this practice. Southern states have the lowest percentage in this category. In that region 36 percent of all farms use internet to conduct business.
The Computer Usage and Ownership report is published biennially and is available online at www.nass.usda.gov